politics

US Joins Yemen Conflict

We can now put away any speculation whether the US will limit its support and arming of Saudi Arabia in its ongoing campaign over Yemen over «war crime» concerns.

The U.S. military not only did not rebuke the Saudis for a military campaign that has claimed nearly 10,000 innocent civilian lives, but became the latest entrant in the Yemen offensive, when it launched cruise missile strikes on Thursday to knock out three coastal radar sites in areas of Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi forces, in what was supposedly a retaliation after failed missile attacks this week on a U.S. Navy destroyer.

U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity said U.S. Navy destroyer USS Nitze launched the Tomahawk cruise missiles. The strikes, authorized by President Barack Obama, represent Washington’s first direct military action against suspected Houthi-controlled targets in Yemen’s conflict.

As we reported previously, U.S. officials said there growing indications — if no official proof — that Houthi fighters, or forces aligned with them, were responsible for Sunday’s attempted strikes, in which two coastal cruise missiles designed to target ships failed to reach the destroyer.

And like on all previous occasions when the US got involved in a nation’s sovereign affairs, the Pentagon stressed the limited nature of the strikes. What it did was make Saudi incursions into Yemen even easier, providing the Saudi airforce a corridor deep into the country which making sure Yemen was unable to retaliate against its invaders.

In retrospect one now wonders if the «cruise missiles» that fell close to the US ships were merely the latest false flag providing the US cover to launch another foreign intervention.The Houthis denied any involvement in Sunday’s attempt to strike the USS Mason.

On Thursday, the Houthis reiterated a denial that they carried out the strikes and said they did not come from areas under their control, a news agency controlled by the group reported a military source as saying. The allegations were false pretexts to «escalate aggression and cover up

crimes committed against the Yemeni people», the source said.

It wouldn’t be the first time that the US has done just that to launch an offensive war (without Congressional approval).

There may have been another reason for the strikes: sites were hit in the Dhubab district of Taiz province. The area impacted by US air strikes overlooks the Bab al-Mandab Straight known for being one of the world’s busiest transit spots.

The missile incidents, along with an Oct. 1 strike on a vessel from the United Arab Emirates, add to questions about safety of passage for military ships around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.

This latest US attack appears to be just the beginning: Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook warned against any future attacks, adding that «The United States will respond to any further threat to our ships and commercial traffic, as appropriate.»

And suggesting that Yemen is about to become the next major geopolitical hotzone, earlier today Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Iran sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden on Thursday, establishing a military presence in waters off Yemen where the U.S. military launched cruise missile strikes on areas controlled by Iran-backed Houthi forces.